Sarah Short

Sarah Short is an Assistant Professor and the Dorothy King Chair in Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, affiliated with the School of Education and the Center for Healthy Minds. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Psychology and Neuroscience from UW-Madison and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Her research focuses on the impact of poverty on early childhood brain development, particularly executive function and neural plasticity. She leads the Brain and Early Experience (BEE) Study, funded by a $2.5M NICHD grant, exploring how poverty affects brain development and cognitive processes. She also develops mindfulness-based interventions, such as the Parent-Child Mindfulness-Based Training program, and investigates culturally responsive mindfulness practices through initiatives like the Mindfulness For All project.

Key grants include the NICHD grant and a Grand Challenges Seed Grant from UW-Madison. Her work integrates psychology, neuroscience, and education to design interventions that promote resilience in at-risk children. She collaborates with organizations such as Primordial Multicultural Healing Community to address health inequities in Latinx and Indigenous communities.

Her lab includes graduate students like Pema Lhamo and Camille Williams, as well as research associates like Tammi Kral and DK Jang. Current projects span neonatal brain imaging, mindfulness curricula in Mexico, and community-based interventions.